An anti-war demonstration at the Port of Oakland turned violent this morning when Oakland Police opened fire with wooden dowels, "sting balls," concussion grenades, tear gas and other non-lethal weapons when protesters at the gates of two shipping lines refused an order to disperse…

"Our guys were standing in one area waiting to go to work, and then the police started firing on the longshoremen,'’ said Henry Graham, the president of ILWU Local 10. "Some were hit in the chest with rubber bullets, and seven of our guys went to the hospital. I don’t want to imply that the police deliberately did this, but it doesn’t make sense.'’…

"I was there from 5 a.m. on, and the only violence that I saw was from the police,'’ said Joel Tena, the constituent liaison for Vice Mayor Nancy Nadel. "What happened today was very surprising. It seemed the police were operating under the assumption that they were not going to let any kind of protest happen."